Magnificat (52 page)

“No,” she agreed distantly, too astonished to say anything else.

He still did not meet her eyes with his. “It is unfortunate. Cardinal Gemme. More than his body was damaged in that riot. He is not the man he was.”

Dame Leonie gave a quick look into the crowd but could not spot Cardinal Gemme. “No, he’s not,” she said quietly.

Finally he stared at her once more. “It would be a shame if he had to suffer any more embarrassment.”

“Yes,” she repeated. “I’ll…speak to—”

He cut her off “Someone appropriate, I’m sure.” Once again he faded into the throng of guests.

A moment later Dame Leonie pulled Axel Maetrich aside. “I fear.…” This suddenly felt very difficult. How could she accuse Cardinal Gemme of carrying explosives? She began again. “I have reason to believe that…one of my guests is…possibly—” She stopped. What if Karodin was lying? What if his intention was to divert attention from a real threat by this accusation?

“What is it?” Maetrich asked, sensing her distress.

“Do you have some way to check for weapons or…or explosives?” she asked, astonished at her own bluntness.

“Yes,” said Maetrich cautiously.

“How…how discreet is the check?” Her heart was beating faster and more urgently. She was frightened. Her feet were forgotten.

“We have equipment in the kitchen.” They had gone over everything the caterers had brought, and those waiters who were not part of the security staff had been screened thoroughly with their equipment. He looked toward the kitchen door. “If there is someone, or…?”

“If you can do this without drawing attention to what you’re doing, have one of your men check Cardinal Gemme.” She spoke very quickly, breathlessly. Now that she had given the order, she was appalled. How could she consider such a possibility? But how could she not consider it?

“Cardinal
Gemme
?” Maetrich repeated. “Are you certain?”

“No, I’m not,” she replied. “That is why your man must be as circumspect as possible. If the…information I have is in error.…” She glanced nervously at her watch. “It must be done quickly.”

“Before the Pope arrives?” said Maetrich, not expecting an answer.

“Yes,” said Dame Leonie. “Without fuss.”

“We’ll attend to it,” said Maetrich, and went off purposefully toward the kitchen.

Dame Leonie stood alone for the better part of a minute, the noise and bustle of her party lost on her. She could only think what could happen if it turned out that Dmitri Karodin was right. Marc-Luc, Cardinal Gemme carrying explosives at a party! It was ludicrous. Unless it was true. Her hand went to her throat. How could she warn Pope An? To reach the Pope’s personal Swiss Guard, she would have to use the telephone or the radios, and either could be overheard. If news leaked out that there had been direct and personal danger for Pope An.…

“What’s the matter, Leonie?” Willie Foot asked her as he came to her side. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

“A goose must have walked over my grave,” she said with a shaky laugh.

“Something’s wrong,” Willie said in a manner that allowed no argument. “What is it?”

She shook her head, not trusting herself to accept his support. “I can’t.” She took a step away from him. “Not now.”

There was more concern in his demeanor. “What is it?” he insisted. “Leonie!”

Her eyes widened and she made a gesture to bar him from her. “Please, Willie. I’ll tell you later.”

Now he was seriously worried. “My God, what’s happened?” As she started away from him, he went after her.

“Nothing,” she said hastily. “Not yet.”

He could not accept that. He pursued her, determined to find out what had distressed her. “Leonie.”

“No.” She read hurt in his eyes and relented. “As soon as it’s taken care of, I’ll tell you all about it.” Then she broke away from him and started toward the kitchen door, wanting to reach Maetrich before his men went to work.

Three waiters emerged from the kitchen, two of them pushing a cart laden with chafing dishes and a bain de Marie. They moved in a swift but erratic course through the gathering, bound for the far side of the main room, to where a small bar was set up. One of the waiters held a bouquet of serving utensils, and the one at the front of the cart kept motioning people aside.

A few of the guests flocked after the cart, but most only moved out of the way and continued their conversations; the waiters reached their destination and two of them began to set up for serving. The third waiter headed back toward the kitchen, pausing only to say a few words to another member of the serving staff before vanishing into the rear of the crowd.

Watching this exchange, Dame Leonie felt a cold fist close in her viscera. Both the third waiter and the man to whom he had spoken were part of the security staff. Without intention she moved toward Axel Maetrich for the confirmation she sensed was waiting, only to be blocked by the ponderous bulk of Sylvestre, Cardinal Jung, resplendent in his satin cassock.

“I want to offer you my felicitations,” said Cardinal Jung. “You have contrived a most attractive diversion.”

This double-edged compliment caught her attention. “Why, how kind of you, Cardinal,” she said, responding with sincerity to equal his own.

“I confess—we’re still permitted to confess, aren’t we?—that I was amazed that you had the gall to offer such an entertainment when your disgrace has been flaunted through the world news services, but I see now that you have succeeded in a very clever ploy. Who will speak ill of you when you have done so much to smooth the way of the Chinese woman?” He folded his arms as if daring her to spar with him.

Under other circumstances Dame Leonie might have been tempted to take up the challenge, but now she paid no heed. “If you are not enjoying yourself, Cardinal Jung, pray do not feel compelled to stay.”

He had been prepared for any number of reactions, but not her cool response. His color heightened. “Dame Leonie—”

She stepped aside. “Please excuse me, Cardinal. There is a matter that requires my immediate attention.”

Axel Maetrich had seen her approach, and now drew her aside. He lowered his head and his voice. “He is carrying explosives.”

Although this was what Dame Leonie expected, hearing the words spoken was more than she could endure. She took two quick, sharp breaths before she was able to speak calmly. “Find a way to remove him. Before Pope An arrives.”

“That might be difficult,” Maetrich said quietly, with a swift, significant look around the crowd.

Dame Leonie followed his glance. “You mean that the guests could be in danger.” She had not permitted herself to consider this until now. “But surely he wouldn’t do—”

“We don’t know what he’ll do,” said Maetrich steadily. “No one does.”

“No, I suppose not,” said Dame Leonie. “All right; what do you recommend?”

“I’d recommend removing the Cardinal as quietly and quickly as possible,” said Maetrich, his features set uncompromisingly. “I don’t think it would be wise to risk confronting him among all these guests.”

“Because of the explosives,” said Dame Leonie, needing no answer.

“We could request the Pope delay her arrival, but.…” Maetrich’s gesture indicated he realized that Pope An might not be willing to follow their suggestion.

“And he may have…associates here,” said Dame Leonie. Saying the words aloud made the possibility more real, but that did not terrify her, not as much as her first ill-formed worries had. “We don’t want to alarm them, in case there are others carrying weapons or—”

“Yes,” admitted Maetrich. “We have to make that assumption.”

Dame Leonie’s lips quirked into a mirthless smile. There were so few alternatives, and they were so obvious. “You don’t want to claim that there has been a bomb scare as an excuse to evacuate the building.”

“We would prefer not,” said Maetrich stiffly.

She nodded. “I would rather not, as well.” There were truly so few options available, she thought. “Then I suppose it would be best for me to find a reason to move him away from.…” She gestured to indicate the festivities around them.

Maetrich hesitated for an instant. “It could be risky.”

She was able to chuckle once. “Are you saying that having a Cardinal armed with a bomb in the middle of this isn’t risky?” She gave Maetrich no opportunity to answer. “Better a threat to three or four than a hundred, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes,” said Maetrich. “And there isn’t much time.”

Dame Leonie looked at her watch again. “Give me two minutes. Then be prepared.” She would not allow herself to say for what.

“It might be better if—” Maetrich said.

“He asked me to arrange for him to speak with the Pope as soon as she arrives. I think he will come with me.” She made expression pleasant once more. “There is a sitting room on the floor below. I’ll attempt to get him there.”

“Let me assign someone to come with you,” Maetrich requested as he recovered himself.

She favored him with her most polite smile. “We both know that would not be wise.” As she walked away from Maetrich she once again realized how much her feet hurt.

Cardinal Gemme was attempting to engage Jaime, Cardinal O’Higgins in a discussion of the dramatic political changes that had just taken place in Mexico. Neither man was prepared to listen to what the other had to say, and as a result they were doing little more than trading rhetoric.

“Cardinal Gemme, I wonder if I might have a little of your time,” said Dame Leonie, pleased that her voice sounded normal to her.

He looked over at her. “Yes?”

“You made a request of me a bit earlier?” Had he not been a Cardinal, she would have slipped her arm through his, but she was sure that this was more than Cardinal Gemme would tolerate. “If you will come with me?”

Cardinal O’Higgins gave a relieved gesture. “Please. Don’t let me keep you.” He had an empty champagne flute in his left hand, and this he held up. “Another time, Cardinal Gemme.”

As he followed Dame Leonie, Cardinal Gemme spoke softly, “The Pope?”

“I have a room on the floor below where you may speak privately with her. Once she arrives here, I doubt I would be able to find a way to assure your privacy.” Does that sound reasonable? she wondered. Or would he suspect the ploy as what it was?

“I am grateful,” said Cardinal Gemme energetically. “I knew you would arrange something suitable.”

“Something suitable?” she echoed. “I hope it may be.” She chose the rear stairs as the route to the floor below, the ones used by the waiters; with luck Cardinal Gemme would pay little attention to the staff. “I have inferred that you did not want your meeting with the Pope to be noted?”

“Yes. It must be in confidence,” said Cardinal Gemme sounding more excited than before. “How well you understand.”

Dame Leonie could find no word to answer him. As they reached the corridor on the lower floor, she pointed ahead and to the left. “It’s the second door. I’ll arrange for someone to watch, so you will not be disturbed.”

There was something in Cardinal Gemme’s scarred face that belied the civility of his words. “I was expecting you to remain with us. It wouldn’t be fitting for the Pope to be unchaperoned, not at such a function.” He stood so that Dame Leonie had to enter the room ahead of him, and once she was inside, he closed the door behind them. “I’m sure you agree?”

“You indicated this was to be confidential,” said Dame Leonie, taking pride in the ordinariness of her voice; she wanted to scream. “Surely you don’t want a”—she almost said witness—“…an interloper here?”

In the distance there was the sound of sirens. Both of them turned toward the tall windows.

“She’s coming,” said Cardinal Gemme, his face brightening. “At last.”

Dame Leonie heard the madness in his voice for the first time, and her courage all but failed her. “I am expected to greet her,” she said, panting on the last word.

“There are those who will attend to that,” said Cardinal Gemme.

Dame Leonie set her jaw and tried again. “If I don’t speak to her, she will not know to come here.”

“Inform one of the staff,” said Cardinal Gemme, his voice suddenly so cold that Dame Leonie shivered. “That is what they are here for.”

It was all she could do not to tremble. “All right,” she said as if speaking to a savage dog. She went on with care, as if Cardinal Gemme might not understand English. “I will give instructions, if that is satisfactory?”

“At once.” He had gone to the windows where he could watch the street below. “Listen to that. They shriek like the damned.”

As Dame Leonie opened the door, she stared at Axel Maetrich. “Cardinal Gemme wishes to speak with Pope An before she joins the others. He and I will be waiting here.” She regarded him for several seconds, knowing he could say nothing, but suddenly desperate for some sign of reassurance.

“You and he?” said Maetrich.

“Cardinal Gemme very sensibly doesn’t wish to make it appear that he is meeting Pope An in a clandestine manner.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth. “He’s asked me to…stay here.”

“Very good, Madame,” said Maetrich, and started away from the door.

Dame Leonie raised her voice a little. “You will deliver the message to Pope An?”

“The moment she arrives,” Maetrich assured her.

“That young priest is a very good coordinator,” said Cardinal Gemme unexpectedly. “You’re fortunate to have his services.”

“Yes,” said Dame Leonie, her attention distracted by the first sounds of the arrival of Pope An. Three motorcycles provided the advance escort, and as they fell silent the sounds of deeper sirens grew louder.

“Her humility does not extend to travel,” Cardinal Gemme observed in a flat tone. “But Jesus said little about modern transportation. I suppose she can decide what’s best to do without going back to the Gospels.” He turned away abruptly and directed his baleful gaze to Dame Leonie. “You approve of her, don’t you? You’re mesmerized along with the rest.”

“It doesn’t matter what I think, since I am not Catholic,” said Dame Leonie.

“The whole world is deceived,” said Cardinal Gemme. “I was deceived with them, but I have been saved from myself, through Grace.” His hand strayed to the ugly weal running from his cheek to his jaw; only after he had touched his scar did he cross himself. “God demands sacrifice where there is sin. The greater the sin, the greater the sacrifice.”